Santorini to Naxos trip details

When I left off, we had just finished our last full day in Santorini. Caveat, entire trip was filled with laughs, experiences & memory making, so absolutely worth doing, but I'll share the highlights & the lowlights. 

Sunday 6/21 - Santorini to Naxos

• Got up in the morning & had breakfast at the hotel & packed up
• Headed to the port for the ferry, which was ... an adventure I won't soon forget
• The thing about the ferry is it's so much chaos without any organization, and 1200 people attempting to board a ferry while workers are shouting in Greek. That would maybe be okay if everyone was going to the same island, but the ferries from Santorini go to numerous islands, and you need to leave your luggage in the designated area for your destination, Cue an absolute insane amount of chaos, dragging your bags up an enormous ferry ramp, trying to sort luggage, sirens going off, whistles being blown & just... a lot. ;-) I would not repeat the ferry experience unless absolutely mandatory. (This is specific to Santorini. We also took the ferry from Naxos to Paros, and combined with the fact that we knew what to expect and the much fewer number of people boarding, it was easier to navigate, although still...chaotic, shall we say.) 
• We got picked up in Naxos Town by the hotel transport, and made our way to the hotel. The hotels in Santorini & on Paros were really fabulous, but this one was ... more of a let down. The room was tiny, despite being a "suite". We had the sofa made into a bed, which meant there was no room to sit, no place for three bags, etc. The other disappointment was the hotel pool area. In the photos online, they showed a pretty spacious pool area, as well as what they described as a pool terrace. There were a total of six chairs for the entire hotel, and they were all in full sun for the day, and I'm not sure what happened with the pool terrace, but no such thing. We heard later that the pool photos were taken with a drone & then selectively edited... I also wouldn't stay in the location we were in, and would stay in Naxos Town if I ever came back. We were in Prokopios, which had a lot of touristy type restaurants, and it was harder to find places to eat, etc. 
• We had an okay dinner on our first night, as the place we wanted to go to was sold out, and we wandered around looking for other options. That said, the view was gorgeous on the beach. Just a stunning location. 

Monday 6/22 - Naxos

• Tried the hotel breakfast, which was not an experience we would repeat. 
• Rented lounge chairs at the beach, read two books & ordered cocktails & fries. Lunch of champions. ;-) Absolutely gorgeous views & some fun people watching. We hit maximum relaxation by this point. 

• Went to dinner in Naxos Town & did some shopping, & had a lovely dinner at Avaton 1739, which is located on the Old Monastery and School of the Ursulines (a historic complex built directly into the stone fortification walls of the medieval Venetian Castle, according to Google). The view was again super fabulous. 

Tuesday 6/23 - Naxos

• Went out to breakfast/coffee & skipped the hotel breakfast ;-)
• Had no plans, as we were supposed to be on a kayak tour, but wind meant that wasn't an option for us. We weren't quite sure what to do, so after checking with the hotel staff, we ended up on a distillery tour. I'll admit that I had zero expectations for this, but it turned out to be so much fun. The distillery makes Citron, and that type of alcohol is only made in Naxos, by two family owned distilleries. The host made the experience - she was so much fun, we drank wine, lots of Citron, ouzo, and limoncello. 
• Went to a great dinner in Naxos Town at Scirocco, and enjoyed shrimp orzo & then went shopping a bit down town. I do really like that the shopping area is open so late. 

I'll be back with the details of our trip from Naxos -> Paros, and our time in Paros + travel home. Naxos is described as a favorite island by many, so if I go back & try it again, I would make a bunch of adjustments to where we stayed & our planned activities, as I don't think we did it justice & would like to go back & experience it again.